Akatsuki Boy
by Evie Siri
Summary: Itachi was Naruto's guardian after the Kyuubi attack. After the Uchiha massacre happened, Itachi took Naruto away with him to the Akatsuki. What would Naruto's life be like? Itachi and Naruto mentor relationship.
1. Chapter 1

_Summary: Itachi was Naruto's guardian after the Kyuubi attack. After the Uchiha massacre happened, Itachi took Naruto away with him to the Akatsuki. What would Naruto's life be like?_

**THEIR AGES:**

**Itachi: 13**

**Naruto: 7 (I don't know if this is the canon ages, just made these to suit my story)**

* * *

_**Chapter 1**_

Blood red eyes looked into the night. Finally, he had done it, he had killed is clan. Itachi felt a clenching pain in his chest. _Now's not the time for emotions, _he thought._ A shinobi has no emotions. He kills. He slaughters. He does not feel._ That had been forever ingrained into his mind from ANBU. He could still hear the echoes of his aniki's screams. Sasuke felt too much. _To be young and naïve again, _he mused.

Sasuke would never understand. He had grown up sheltered from the real world. The world with pain, suffering and plain _reality. _Sasuke had never experienced it.

" _Itachi-nii, teach me how to throw shuriken!"_

"_Itachi-nii, carry me on your back!"_

"_Itachi-nii, come and watch me do the G__oukakyuu no Jutsu__!"…_

Now with the clan massacred and his parting words to his otouto, Sasuke would wallow in revenge and hate, never seeing the truth. The thing was, _he was too shallow._ Well, everybody except for a select few, were _shallow-minded._ They saw things as how they were, never looked deeper, to find the truth. To people, being oblivious was bliss. _The truth hurts, _after all. Their minds couldn't grasp the truth, couldn't _live with the truth._ To them, the less they know, the better.

Why is there war?

Because humans are greedy, they wanted power.

Why is there pain and suffering?

Because humans are selfish.

If everyone took the time to open their eyes for just a few moments and look around them, they would see everything, the _truth. _They would see that they were not, in fact, perfect. That they were not helpless. That if they tried, if everyone tried, there would be peace.

Itachi had tried. He had tried to be perfect. To be perfect for his father. Had he not gotten into ANBU at the young age of 13? To be perfect for his mother. He was polite, well-mannered, caring…well, to a certain extent. And finally, to be perfect for his brother. Setting a good example of a shinobi for young and naïve Sasuke. Caring about him. Spending time with him. Giving the forehead poke to him (as a sign of endearment of course).

He had not only tried with his family, he had also _tried_ with the whole village. He was an idol to every shinobi. Smart, punctual (unlike a certain someone…), neat, precise and PERFECT.

Why though? Why had he tried to be perfect? Why did he obey the Hokage and the council? Why had he slaughtered his clan, his family?

And, the million dollar answer was:

For _**peace.**_

A fat lot of good that did him. He was currently (or going to be) an S-class criminal. He was homeless. His younger brother was going to turn out evil. And he was going to join Akatsuki, the most dangerous group in all the nations. The kind that people had only heard of, and not seen. The ones that had seen them…well, let's just say that they were either up there with the angels, or down there with the mother of Kyuubi.

Well, not to say he had not expected this. With his analytical mind that was always a hundred and one steps ahead of others, it was expected that he knew it was going to turn out like this. But, there was a big, gaping chasm between expecting something, and _liking something. _And for Itachi, he did not like this at all.

He sighed.

Sometimes, he wished that nothing existed at all. Life was just too _troublesome._

* * *

Naruto had always been a spirited one. Anything he did, he did with energy. From eating ramen, to talking, to laughing…even to annoying people! But not many people could see through his façade that he was a genius, a prodigy. Most people thought that geniuses were sure to be cold, reserved, quiet, introverted and aloof. They looked at his blonde hair, blue eyes, and sunny smile, and to top it off, his goofy expression; then they labeled him as dumb…in other words, stupid.

But Itachi knew better. As the saying goes, it takes one to know one. From the day that he had been assigned the task of mentoring the boy, he had seen the signs of a prodigy. The boy was more like him than he himself would admit. He was just a bit more…different in expressing himself.

*****_**Flashback***_

"_Hokage-sama, you called?"_

_The Hokage sighed. He sounded weary, but Itachi couldn't blame him. With the Kyuubi sealed in an infant by the Fourth Hokage, who was now dead mind you, and the council in an uproar; no one could still sound energetic. And the Hokage was not even young anymore. He was old, wrinkly and looked like he could drop dead at any moment._

" _Ah, Itachi. You can take off your mask, no need for formalities here, ne?"_

"_Hn."_

_The Hokage chuckled, seeing that Itachi was still standing stiff without removing his mask, "I need you do a serious mission. It could even be ranked as an S-class."_

_Itachi quirked his eyebrows, not that the Hokage could see it of course. He waited for the Hokage to continue._

"_You happen to know the recent events?"_

_Itachi did not respond. The Hokage very well knew that he knew what happened. After all, he had been the one to swoop in on those unruly civillians, to save a certain blonde from being abused and beaten by the drunken agressors. But he didn't understand why the Hokage was bringing this up. He had just been doing his duty as a loyal shinobi of Konoha. Beating a child half to death was definitely not part of the civillian code of conduct._

"_And I trust you do not hold anything against Naruto for containing the fox? You have more sense than that."_

_Itachi frowned. What did the Kyuubi Jinchuuriki have to do with him? Nevertheless, he answered._

"_Of course not, Hokage-sama", he replied._

"_Good."_

_There was a pregnant pause._

"_From now on, your mission is to guard the Kyuubi Jinchuuriki. I expect you keep tabs on him at all times. You know those villagers…"_

_The Hokage trailed off. Itachi understood all too well. Even if it had been 4 years since the Nine Tails had ravaged their village to rubble, and robbed them of a large part of their population, the saying that 'time heals all wounds' had definitely not been true. Till this day, the villagers still seemed to hold their sorrow an grief against the only thing they could connect it to - Naruto. They needed something to release their pent up grief and frustration on. Why not the Kyuubi Jinchuuriki? He was, of course the demon incarnate…to the villagers. The prodigy was not stupid enough to think that the Yondaime had sacrificed himself, only to let the demon run free in human form._

"_Very well," the Hokage continued," Naruto! You can come in now!"_

_The door creaked open slowly, and a tuft of blond hair poked through the gap._

"_Hiya, Jii-san!"_

_Azure blue eyes looked up at Itachi. Naruto had some bandages on from the beating he received earlier, yet his spirit and natural exuberance still shone through._

"_Who are you, weasel-san?"_

_Sarutobi introduced Itachi to Naruto, "Naruto. This is Uchiha Itachi. He is your guardian from now on. Try not to cause him any trouble."_

"_Aww, but where's the fun in that, Sandaime-ojii?"_

_There had never been a more fateful sentence in Itachi's life._

_***End Flashback***_

During the times when Naruto would suddenly go missing, Itachi thanked Kami fervently that he had the Sharingan, top-notch tracking skills and a quick mind. The boy was a pro at evading capture after pranks. He hid the most unlikely places. Once, Itachi even caught him masquerading as a woman in the women's side of the hot springs! His pranks were also ingenious; sometimes even the ANBUs were caught in the crossfire. ANBUs with bright pink masks were a funny sight indeed.

* * *

Itachi had now known Naruto for exactly 3 years and 2 months, since Naruto was 4 years old. He could confidently state that he was Naruto's closest confidant and friend. Over the years, the time that he had spent with the boy had forged a bond between the two. Itachi wouldn't call it love exactly, more like trust and caring.

And now that Itachi had slaughtered his clan, he already had the future planned out. He would bring Naruto with him to the Akatsuki. Madara had already expressed his interest in Naruto. Naruto had the signs of a blooming prodigy in him. Add that to the power of the Kyuubi, Naruto would be a powerhouse when he was older. They would rather have him on the Akatsuki's side when that happened. Itachi knew about the Akatsuki's plan to capture all the bijuu for their power. But he had already made sure that Naruto was not to be a victim. Madara had calculated that the Kyuubi was not actually needed to ensure the success of the project. After all, if Naruto was going to be on their side, then why force the Kyuubi out of him. It'd be a waste of a life.

Itachi jumped through the familiar rooftops to Naruto's apartment. He entered through the window. Naruto was sleeping, mumbling about ramen in his sleep.

"Hmmm…Ramen..Come to me…Wait, don't run away…Let me eat you…"

Itachi sweat dropped, trust Naruto to dream about ramen. I mean, sure, Itachi liked Pocky, but not to the extent that he'd sleeptalk about it.

He gently shook Naruto awake.

" (Yawn). Tachi-nii?"

"Naruto, wake up. We have to go now."

"Hm? Go where? I was just eating my ramen! (Yawn)"

"We're going somewhere new. Somewhere where you'll get stronger. Away from Konoha."

Naruto's eyes snapped open completely.

"What?", he exclaimed.

Itachi shushed him. It wouldn't do to alert anyone of their departure.

"I promise that you'll like it there. Nobody will hate you there. Everyone there will be all the similar to us."

"But I wanna be Hokage in Konoha! Then everybody will acknowledge me! I don't need to go anywhere."

"Do you think that you'll get the training you need here to be hokage Naruto? How are you supposed to be Hokage if you can't even get stronger?"

"B-but…Jiji will help me!"

Itachi sighed. He had known that Naruto would be reluctant to leave Konoha.

"Naruto, the Hokage is too busy. He has a whole village to take care of."

"Yea…but how about my ramen?"

"Naruto, I promise that one day after you get stronger, we'll come back here and I'll treat you to all the ramen you can eat." Itachi had not wanted to resort to this, but if it was what it took…

"Yeah, you bet! Alright! Free ramen plus getting stronger, there's not a better deal than that!" Naruto grinned.

Naruto was riding on Itachi's back as they leapt through the night. He could feel the excited vibes emanating off Naruto as they neared the village gates. Itachi stayed in the shadows as they passed through the gates. The guards were half asleep Chuunins anyway, they were no match for him, but he didn't want to cause a scene. He ran into the trees quickly, dodging through the forest branches and leaves, making sure that Naruto would not get hit by anything. His footsteps were soundless against the ground. This was the position that the pair would stay in for the next 8 hours, Naruto sleeping peacefully on Itachi's back, as he flied through the forest. The forest swallowed them up into the darkness.

* * *

_AN: Please give me some feedback and review. No flames please ^^_


	2. Chapter 2

_**Chapter 2**_

He couldn't believe it. Naruto was gone! He was nowhere to be found in the village. Sarutobi already had 3 platoons of ANBU out looking for him!

_Knock. Knock._

"Come in," Sarutobi said, "Any signs of him?", he asked hopefully.

"No Hokage-sama, but we discovered some chakra remnants of the Uchiha traitor in his apartment."

_Sigh, he was too old for this. Itachi?..._No, he wouldn't believe it, couldn't.

Young, innocent Naruto was being brought to live with a criminal organization? Itachi was supposed to leave right after the massacre, not go and take Naruto along with him! Argh, he should have known not to trust Itachi. Now, Naruto would be raised by the most wanted criminals from all the Elemental Countries. He had also just recently gotten intel from Jiraiya that Orochimaru was in that organization too, and everyone knows of Orochimaru's fixation on young children, particularly boys. Really, what had Itachi been thinking?

"Call off the ANBUs searching for him. I know where he's gone," the Hokage ordered.

The Hokage dreaded the future, he really did.

* * *

"Itachi-nii, are we there yet?" Naruto whined.

"Not yet, Naruto. We'll be there when we're there. Patience is a virtue, you know."

Naruto groaned. This was the 17th time he had asked, and Itachi-nii just answered the same thing! They had already been travelling for 7 hours, and Naruto was very hungry. He could already hear his stomach calling out for Ichiraku's ramen. But Naruto knew that ramen was not coming anytime soon. Itachi-nii had said that they wouldn't be returning to the village for a long time now. Naruto already couldn't wait to return, his ramen was waiting. Better yet, Itachi-nii promised him all the ramen he could eat!

After half an hour of day-dreaming about ramen, he saw a rocky mountain looming over the horizon.

"We're almost there, Naruto."

Naruto's heart dropped. Did Itachi mean that rocky place? It _sure _did not look comfortable.

He held on tighter as Itachi ran up the mountain side with chakra. They stopped in front of a part of the mountain that looked just like the rest.

"Err…are you sure, Itachi-nii? Shouldn't we just look for a door or something?"

Itachi didn't reply him. He did some hand signs, and slowly, but surely, the rock started grinding apart slowly. Naruto watched in awe as the rock in front of them seemingly shimmered, then vanished. There was a small pathway that seemed to disappear into the darkness.

Calmly, Itachi walked in, bringing Naruto with him. Naruto gulped. He just hoped that skeletons wouldn't start appearing anywhere. Because if they did, this whole scenario would be just _so_ cliché.

* * *

Naruto shivered.

The slightly glowing eyes with concentric circles in them thoroughly creeped him out. This Leader person was way too weird for is tastes, and he _had_ had his share of weird people. He felt as if his very soul was being picked to pieces and examined like lab rats, as if he were being judged on whether he was worthy enough of being in Leader's presence.

"Ah yes…Itachi's little charge," Leader said.

Naruto nodded once. He had no idea how to react to what Leader had just said. Did he expect him to introduce himself? Tell him his life story?

There was no need for that though, because Itachi answered for him.

Itachi tensed, and tersely said, "Yes."

Leader's lips curved up slightly.

"No need to get so defensive. I'm merely curious about the Jinchuuriki. Is he really worth training? Why should we sacrifice the entire group's dream of world peace by not including the Kyuubi? He looks like a fool to me!" Leader scoffed.

Anger flared up in Naruto. How dare he judge him by his looks? He'd show him.

"Argh! You…I'll show you. I'll become so strong, that everyone will respect me, even you! That's my nindo!"

Leader's eyes showed shone with mirth and amusement. He quipped, "Really? We'll see then…Everyone, come in now!"

Slowly, 7 people wearing cloaks entered the room, all in perfect sync, up to the billowing of their cloaks. Naruto couldn't help but to look in awe at their coolness.

Leader soon started to introduce the members formally to Naruto.

Naruto took note of all of them. It wouldn't do to be lacking information in a new environment. He was fully determined to survive in this place, and information was power.

A mental list was made in his head about all the members…

_Konan…only girl in the Akatsuki…interesting…looks quite close to the leader…paper flower in her hair…blue hair…expressionless…_

_Zetsu…cannibal, stay out if his way…(shivers)…checker board face…venus flytrap…expressionless…_

_Hidan…big scythe(hmmm….curious, never saw that kind of weapon before)…silver blonde hair…religious necklace…expressionless…_

_Kakuzu…tentacles…stitches…cloth mask…creepy eyes…can't see his expression…_

_Kisame…is it my eyes, or does he look….BLUE?...sharp teeth…huge sword in bandages…spiky blue hair…look of bloodlust on face…_

_Orochimaru…gross looking…transvestite?...long black girly hair like Itachi-nii…white pale face…purple shades…lecherous look on face…? EWWWwwwww…._

_Sasori…goatee…old and bulky…expressionless and kinda evil looking expression…looks bored too…_

These people, Naruto decided, must all be weirdos. Didn't Itachi-nii say before that everyone here would be just like me, all of us left outs and freaks?

"Now, I will brief you two on what your job here is," Leader said, "Itachi, you will be partnered with Kisame."

Kisame grinned, flashing his sharp teeth, in anticipation.

"You will both go together on missions that I have assigned you on. Success will be expected now that both of you are working together."

Itachi nodded silently.

Leader turned to Naruto, who was fidgeting a bit.

"As for you…your level now is of an ant."

"Hey!"

He continued on ignoring Naruto's protest of indignation.

"You will be trained by some of the members to better your ninja skills, until I deem you acceptable enough. Then, you will go on missions alternately with all the partners. They will report back to me on your performance. If by then, you are still not up to level, your bijuu will be extracted, and you will die."

Blinking dazedly and the last sentence, Naruto hastily nodded.

"Hai! I will train to the best of my abilities, and be the best ninja ever! Believe it!"

Silence…then…

"Hahaha! You're just a midget, shrimp. Don't go declaring anything now that you can't fulfill!" Kisame laughed.

Naruto turned around and glared at him.

"Just you wait! When I'm trained, I'm gonna kick your ass so bad, you're gonna run home crying to your mommy!"

"Grr…..What you say kid?"

"You know what I said! I said that you're just a wimpy ass waiting to be kicked by my greatness!"

"Ohh…You asked for it. Bring it on, shrimp! I'll turn you into fish food in no time!"

"Are you hungry, you goldfish? Need some fish food? Haha!"

"Why you little…."

And it went on and on and on and on and on…..until….

"Enough! If I hear one more word of this nonsense, you'll be spending the next week in the dungeons. Is that clear?"

Naruto, and Kisame, cowered back against the fearsome expression on Leader's face, and his angry flashing eyes.

"Now, that this is settled. Konan! You're in charge of showing Itachi and Naruto their rooms and the hideout."

"Hai, Pein-sama."

"Itachi, I'll be expecting you to start your missions on two days. And Naruto, your training will start tomorrow with Konan first. She will teach you the basics of chakra. You amy leave now. This meeting is over!"

"Yes."

"Hai!"

They left the room following Konan, into the hallways of the hideout. Naruto felt his anticipation building at seeing his new room, and at the beginning of his new life.

* * *

His room was very simple. Not big, yet not small. There was a bed on the side, a desk on the other, and a door leading into his small bathroom. On the whole, it was a very…_practical_ room. Nothing more, or less than needed. Naruto supposed that this was the lifestyle he would just have to get used to. The lifestyle that all the Akatsuki led.

The corridors were grey, stony and cold; just like the walls of his room. In fact, the whole Akatsuki hideout was cold, grey and stony. _Don't they have any favourite colours?_ Naruto thought. _It could do with some yellow and orange!_ There were no windows down here, just walls. Light came from the glass structures mounted on ceilings and walls, lit up with a mysterious light.

Knowing that he would probably be living here for an extremely long time, Naruto determined that he should get used to this place soon, and get used to the long, winding, and complicatedly arrayed set of corridors. Getting lost would surely not prove that he was strong! It would not make people acknowledge him!

It was the second day he was at The Cave, as he would call it. Getting up quickly from bed, he did his daily routines, and changed into a mesh shirt and black shorts (he mourned the loss of the orange jumpsuit). Once he was done, he got out of his room, and started thinking. _Where did Konan-san say the kitchen was again? I'm sure she said it was down the corridor here somewhere…_

Hesitantly walking down the corridor, Naruto felt relieved when he started hearing some sounds of cutlery being moved about, and the clanking of plates. Looking into the kitchen, Naruto saw that there were already some Akatsuki members in there. There was Kisame, who was biting into a piece of toast; Itachi, who was silently drinking a cup of milk; and Konan, who was making something over the stove.

Feeling the beginnings of a series of stomach grumbles, Naruto quickly scooted onto the table, grabbed a piece of bread and buttered it up quickly. Munching on it happily, Naruto thought back to the days when Ichiraku Ramen was just a 3 minute walk away from his flat…He missed those days already! But it was all worth it. He had come to a place with Itachi-nii where freaks like him all lived together. A place where he would be trained to become strong, and be acknowledged so that no one would ever look down on him again!

Determination rushing through him, Naruto finished the rest of his breakfast, glugged down a cup of orange juice, and then looked to Konan expectantly. She had just finished her meal, and was washing her dishes, and putting them away. After several minutes, in which Naruto fidgeted impatiently, Konan finally finished. She dried her hands slowly, and then , looking to Naruto, she nodded at him, and then went out of the kitchen.

Scampering quickly out of his chair, Naruto followed after her. She walked on and on, until they reached a set of double doors.

Looking down to him, Konan stated, "This place is the training room. You'll be training here, unless a member takes you out for training."

Nodding up at her, Naruto felt the level of excitement rise up in him. This was it, a place where he would grow stronger! It must be very cool and awesome in there, full of sharp weapons and big logs! Finally, Konan opened the doors. Peering in, he shoulders dropped, and he felt a bit of…disappointment.

It was just an empty and large stone room. No weapons, no logs, nothing. It was just walls, floor and ceiling. They entered the room, and once they reached the center of the room. Konan turned to him, and beckoned him to sit. They both sat cross-legged and straight-backed on the floor.

"So Naruto-kun. What do you know about chakra?"

He paused, and tried to think of an answer that would make him sound knowledgeable about a subject he was absolutely clueless about.

"…Well, chakra is the power that ninjas use to do those jutsus. And the more you have, the stronger you are! You know, I'm gonna have a whole lot of chakra one day! You'll see! I'll be the strongest ninja ever!"

Konan looked impassive, and Naruto didn't know if he made an impression or not. He must have stunned her into silence with the impressive amount of knowledge he had just exhibited. That's it!

Finally, she spoke, "Uzumaki, you have much to learn. I hope you like reading…"

His eyes widened, and a feeling of dread welled up somewhere deep inside him.

_Uh-oh._

* * *

He had never seen such a huge collection of scrolls and books ever! Even in the Konoha public library. Piles and piles, and shelves upon shelves, of scrolls and books filled up the gargantuan room. Konan brought him over to a section of the room, labeled CHAKRA. She turned to him, and said:

"I expect you to read all of this by next week. Itachi told me that you have the ability of using shadow clones. Use that. You will be able to absorb the memories of all the clones you create. Don't overtax yourself and turn your brain into mush. Leader-sama would not like that. I will check on you in exactly a week, and I will expect you to be know what _exactly_ chakra is, and not the bunch of nonsense you spouted. Until then, don't bother any of the members."

With those instructions, she walked out.

Naruto was taken aback. Slowly, he looked up to the giant mountain of scrolls and the 3 full shelves of books. Being a prankster, he was a more…_hands on_… person, than a brainiac. The whole idea of actually _learning_ something through reading was completely alien to him. He always thought that all ninja had to do was fight and do cool jutsus. Like Itachi-nii. He never saw Itachi-nii ever reading! Why should _he_ read then? Itachi-nii was a super great ninja, and he didn't read! Huffing angrily to himself, he plopped down onto the ground. What was so important about learning about chakra anyway? Chakra was just like a battery of jutsus!

Annoyed, he looked over the books, and picked up _Chakra for Dummies._ That would be a good start. Not that he was a dummy of course. He just thought that it would be easier.

Quickly doing the shadow clone jutsu, just as Konan suggested, he summoned a 100 clones, and told them all to pick a basic looking book about chakra and start reading. If he had to finish this within a week, the shadow clone jutsu would be his lifesaver. Sighing, he flipped open the book to the first page.

_**Chakra for Dummies...**_

_**What is chakra exactly? Well…**_

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**Thanks for reading thus far! Reviews are highly welcome! ^^**


	3. Chapter 3

_**Chapter 3**_

_Timeskip: 3 years_

_Naruto: 10 years old_

_Itachi: 16 years old_

3 figures leapt silently through the foliage of a forest. One of them had a large and bulky figure with a huge sword attached to his back; another had a more slender figure, and whose movements were noticeably more elegant and graceful than the other; and finally, there was an obviously smaller figure, who travelled with a noticeable bounce in each of his steps. Without warning, they paused and leapt to the ground. The largest figure bent down to the ground, and inhaled. A look of concentration passed his face as he paused to think…

"The tracks are a few hours old. We're closing in on them."

The second figure nodded imperceptibly. Taking that as a signal, the three leapt into the leaves again, and continued to close in on their targets. They continued to move on, swifter this time, their speed increasing with their anticipation.

"Fish-fry! Remember, no mercy. They're our targets. They're the job. The faster we kill them, the quicker the job's done, and we can all go back home. Got it?"

Naruto nodded. This was one of his many 'training' missions. He'd accompany a pair of the Akatsuki, and they'd go on a mission together. Sometimes, he'd just observe. Sometimes, he'd help with the small fry a.k.a. the thugs and the mercenaries accompanying their main target. Other times, like this time, he'd be put in charge of the mission, with the pair monitoring him off the side, ready to leap into action at any given moment. But they'd only help if they really thought Naruto would come off the losing side. Once, two lucky kunais stabbed his left shoulder and stomach, and Deidara and Sasori remained unmoving. He'd almost passed out then, but, luckily, incapacitated the last two ninja defending their cowardly target quivering behind the carriage. He'd learnt a lesson from that. He'd have to fight hard if he wanted to survive these 'training' missions. Neither the Akatsuki nor the Kyuubi would let him die, but they'd let him suffer through a mountain of pain before they actually helped.

Sensing some movement ahead, the party of three slowed down. Silently and slowly, they crept up on their target. He was surrounded by a group of mercenaries, obviously hired to guard him on his way to his destination. They did not know the details. Not his destination, not whatever valuable he carried, not the reason that he had to be eliminated. This was how Leader did things. They were given a mission scroll with a face, a name, and a location. Kill whatever gets in your way, and leave no witnesses. If it was a retrieval mission of an artifact, it was the same. Just that your target need not be eliminated, but rather, stolen.

Finally, Itachi spoke, "Naruto, you know what to do. Quick and clean."

Nodding, Naruto leapt into action. Stealthily, he pulled out two kunai. The target was in the middle, with two mercenaries on each of his sides. Eight in total. The kunai were thrown silently, and hit the two mercenaries in the back of their hearts. They died before they even knew what hit them. Hearing the two thumps behind them, the rest of the guards turned around. Three of them immediately circled the target, while the other three went on the offensive. Naruto jumped into the fray.

"Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!"

2 shadow clones popped into existence, and the three of them rushed to the offensive mercenaries. Because they were just mercenaries with feeble fighting skills, they hardly put up a fight, and were quickly defeated by simple taijutsu. The other three mercenaries rushed forwards with their swords drawn.

Deciding to take them out in one blow, Naruto quickly muttered, "Katon: Gōkakyū no Jutsu."

A fireball expanded from his mouth, and travelled at fast speeds towards the attackers. They were killed in a heartbeat, the fireball to quick for them to even try to evade it. The target was already running away from the fray in one last desperate attempt to hold on to his life for a few more minutes. But even he knew, this would probably be the last time he saw sunlight. And it was, because in the next second, a kunai was thrown right into the back of his heart, silencing it forever.

Kisame and Itachi emerged from the dense forestry around them. Kisame was grinning, his sharp canines glinting in the sunlight. Itachi looked as expressionless as always. Naruto glanced at them with a raised eyebrow.

"Oh come on, is that it? Why was Akatsuki hired to kill someone guarded by eight mercenaries? Mercenaries! And only eight of them!"

Itachi looked at him sternly. "We do not question the mission, Naruto. We complete it, then we forget it."

"Yea, yea. Itachi-nii! Anyways, let's go back. It's way too hot to walk around in this thick cloak! Why can't the Akatsuki have winter and summer uniforms?"

"Because, fish-fry, we'd be like little school girls going to school. The most notorious criminal organization in the world can't change uniforms two times a year just because of the weather! Come on, anyway, wearing a dark cloak with red clouds is completely badass. We look like grim reapers!"

Naruto grumbled. Was this really the reason they had to always wear these cloaks? Well, at least the hats provided good shading, but really, the black cloaks absorbed all the heat. He wiped some sweat off his brow, and looked over at Itachi. He didn't know how he did it. Every hair was in place, as usual, and he looked completely unwinded and sweat-free. Kisame was more like him, with sweat rolling down his brow. And the uniform they wore all the time may be good for infiltration and creeping around in the shadows, but when they entered villages, they were stared at. It was practically shouting: "There are weird people here walking around in black cloaks with DON'T COME NEAR ME OR I WILL HARM YOU vibes." Not very good stealthiness at all.

Naruto sighed. "Let's just head back. I can't stand this heat!"

Itachi, the unspoken leader of the small group, nodded, and they leapt into the trees again, heading in the direction of the Akatsuki base a.k.a. The Cave.

* * *

"Mission success," Itachi reported, handing over the sealing scroll containing the head of the target.

"Good," Leader-sama replied. He looked over to Naruto, then back to Itachi again. "Not much trouble, I hope?"

"No way, Leader-sama! There were only 8 mercenaries! They were gone just like that!"

Naruto snapped his fingers just for the emphasis. His relationship with Leader-sama was… unusual. You could say that it was like a father-child relationship, where the father was an authoritarian, and rather sadistic and cold at times. Well, the basics of a father-child relationship was there. The whole being brought up by the Akatsuki phase of his life had practically made them his adopted family. Of course, that excluded Orochimaru. That dirty snake had betrayed them all about a year ago, leaving with one of the rings. Till this day, Sasori still got that extra calm look on his face when Orochimaru was mentioned, which meant that he was probably plotting more ways to torture him once the Akatsuki got their hands on him.

Leader-sama had seemed apathetic to the whole Orochimaru-coming-after-Itachi's-eyes-then-defecting-with-one-of-the-rings fiasco. Knowing Leader-sama, he was probably confident that Akatsuki would get the ring back one day, that Orochimaru was no match for him. Naruto had seen it coming, of course… Well, not really. He just thought the whole creepy-snake-guy-with-the-long-tongue-and-girly-hair was totally weird, and knew that Orochimaru was definitely one bad egg.

"Well, it's a good that this mission was a success anyway. We can't afford to have one failed mission on our record just because your training went wrong," Leader said.

Kisame piped up. "Hey! The fish-fry was pretty messy though. There were bleeding bodies lying all over the place, and crispy-fried corpses lying right in the middle of the track!"

"That's not fair," Naruto countered. "It was a quick and efficient way of completing the mission. So what if it was pretty messy? I bet that you would've made an even bigger mess, you…" Naruto struggled for a good insult. He didn't want to use the word 'fish' because Kisame used that to insult him, and it would be pretty unoriginal for him to use it too.

Before this pointless shouting fest could go on any longer, Itachi quickly stepped in.

"Leader-sama. Do you need our presence here any longer?"

Leader-sama seemed to deliberate for a while.

"No, you are free to go. Itachi, just hand in the mission report by tomorrow. It needs to go in the archives."

"Yes, Leader-sama." Throwing Kisame and Naruto a sharp look, he tilted his head towards the entrance.

Naruto and Kisame got the message. That had been the shut-both-your-traps-or-you-will-die-a-painful-and-unpleasant-death look. Itachi, unfortunately enough, was blessed with a Kisame as a partner, and when Naruto was added into the mix, which happened quite often because Itachi had been the one to bring him from Konoha, you ended up with two contentious brats yapping each other's ears off, and a very annoyed Uchiha.

Walking to his room was no longer as complicated as it once had been. The Cave's maze of tunnels and hidden doors had become his home, and every nook and cranny had been fully explored and discovered. Of course, only the accessible ones. You didn't really want to enter Leader's room, or Hidan's; unless you desired a traumatic and agonizing death. His room was much the same as it had been when he was assigned it. The same only-the-necessities theme, with blank, stony grey walls. Naruto hadn't decorated his rooms when he came. He hadn't wanted to give any other reasons to the members that he was weaker than them! That he, a big and mature 7-year-old, was childish enough to sulk about living in a rooms with no colourful wallpapers! No, not he; so until now, for the past 3 years, he persisted in keeping his walls the way it was. And it had become a home. The walls became endearing after a while. He would look back on it, and say to his grandchildren: "I used to live with grey stone walls, youngsters! Don't complain about your rooms!" Yes, that would be the day.

* * *

The next day greeted Naruto with some a poke in his shoulder, and a push off the bed. After landing in an ungraceful heap on the floor, he cracked his eyes groggily open. Kisame looked down on him, ginning.

"Wakie time, fish-fry!" Naruto looked at the time. It was 7-bloody-AM!

"What the hell? It's seven in the morning! We just completed a mission yesterday! Today's sleep-in day!"

"Do you think I enjoy looking at your sleep-drool early in the morning, fish-fry? Leader-sama needs us. Says its an important mission."

An important mission that broke Leader's sleep-in-day-after-mission-day rule? Naruto suddenly felt more awake. Leader never disturbed someone's beauty sleep before 9 AM. It wasn't customary, and would probably cause unpopularity.

"I'll get ready quick. Meet in the hall in 5?"

Kisame nodded, and exited the room swiftly. He too, wondered what could be so urgent that they needed to wake Naruto, of all people. Naruto was still a trainee of the ninja arts. Nowhere close in skill to any of the Akatsuki members. Why would Leader suddenly require his presence? An urgent but easy mission, perhaps? Or one where they needed to sabotage a transfer of valuables quickly?

Naruto appeared, huffing, in step behind him, clad in his robes and holding his hat. He felt excited and filled with anticipation. This was the first time that Leader had required him so urgently. All the past missions had been missions where he stood by, watching, or mundane missions where he had to kill some low-level ninja or hired thugs. Was this finally an opportunity to shine, his chance at showing them just how much he'd progressed and grown since he joined the Akatsuki?

They arrived in the hall. Leader (the man just didn't seem to sleep) was already sitting on his makeshift 'throne', which made him look more important than other lowly beings. He was going through some scrolls, and barely looked up when Kisame and Naruto arrived. Itachi was already in the hall, standing stiffly to the side.

After much fidgeting on Naruto and Kisame's part, and more impassiveness from Itachi, Leader finally looked up. He seemed to ponder over something as he gazed at the trio, as if he was internally contemplating something of relation to them.

"I have a mission for you."

Naruto felt like he was going to burst with anticipation. He knew this already! What was this "mission" that was all mysterious and important? He hoped that he was finally being allowed to be part of an important mission. Most of the missions he had been sent on were mostly of little importance, due to his relatively low experience in the field of stealth, clean kills and the whole package of being an active shinobi. But it really wasn't his fault! He lived in a cave for Kami's sakes!

"This is of vital importance. I have deemed that it is a suitable time to acquire the Ichibi."

Right. They were a tailed-demon collecting association. That makes sense… Wait, Naruto thought, wasn't this supposed to happen in a few years time? Leader had been planning to lay low for a while to build on their resources and strength. And why was HE being sent on this mission?

"The Akatsuki spy network has informed me that harsher murder attempts are being made against the Jinchuuriki. We cannot risk him being killed. The Ichibi would be free to roam around. If this happens, the Akatsuki may need to expand more effort to capture it. Capturing the Jinchuuriki now will be more efficient."

Precise and straightforward. The reason for this breach in schedule laid out in bare, logical words. But Naruto still did not understand. Why was he involved in this? He would have thought Leader might have left him out of this mission. The capture of a tailed demon was essential to the aim of the Akatsuki: World Peace. Why was he, a current shinobi-in-training, and a potential Akatsuki 1-out-of-9 member, being sent on a mission of such weight?

Naruto spoke up, "But Leader-sama! Why am… I mean, I know I am a trainee, and I have completed some missions successfully, when I was independent of the supervising pair, but… I'm not doubting your judgment or anything, but why am I being sent on this mission?"

Leader's eyes bored into his, staring into his soul, evaluating his worth with those spinning, spiral, hypnotizing eyes.

"You will be charge of the information gathering and infiltration. In other words, you are the spy for this mission."

"Me, but why me? We all know that I suck at stealth and all that!" Trying to grasp at a chance to test his strength against another enemy, he quickly continued, "but I could try helping out in the capture! I'm sure that our chances will increase with a 3 against 1 instead of a 2! I promise not to mess this one up!"

Leader slowly shook his head. "No Naruto, you are not of the level yet to stand against a tailed demon. Even if it is only the Ichibi, and even if you are part of a team. And, your position as a spy and infiltrator in this mission is invaluable, because of what you are, and your age.

What he was? Did Leader mean a Jinchuuriki? Did that mean that he was supposed to somehow subdue the Ichibi with his awesome Kyuubi-Jinchuuriki aura? And what about his age? He was 10 this year, turning 11 in a few months actually. Wait, did that mean…

"Your mission is to become friends with the target. Subdue the target when least expected, and bring him back to the hideout for the extraction. You have 2 weeks. Your target is Sabaku no Gaara, aged 10."

* * *

**Hey guys, sorry for the late update. I've just been really busy lately with the new school term and everything :) Please tell me if you spot any mistakes, and any constructive criticism is welcome! Also, if there are any story or plot suggestions, please tell me! The plot is still in the development stage, so...yeah...Please REVIEW! Motivation is KEY ^^**


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